Pink
by supertighthugs
Summary: Follow up to 'So Called Protection' but also a story on its own Tonks and Lucius have a chat about her mum and things forgotten


The pink haired witch apperated into her uncle's study. She stood still, clearly not wanting to be there and uncomfortable being this close to Lucius.

"I am most disappointed that you would encourage my son into a tawdry affair with a mud blood. After everything I've done for you..." he said looking up at her. She glared at him; she had not seen or heard from him for a long time. He looked a little worn. Tonks smirked.

"Are you wearing slippers, Lucius? You have really let yourself go, I am sure that you instill fear in your son and I don't really think it's an affair, well not yet." Tonks said, annoyed that he called her to his house for such a stupid thing. He gave her a stern look. "Sorry Thank you for all you have done to," She said with a smirk but revised "Erm for me. I will see what I can do for Draco he actually listens to me." Lucius rolled his eyes.

"Stop trying to be a smart, I am not wearing slippers" he scoffed. "And you honestly can't tell me that you always listened to your parents?"

"Um no," Tonks said with glare. Must Lucius always bring up her family? "My mom named me Nymphadora, seriously," She said avoiding the subject. She shuddered. "Do you remember the dresses she put me in, lace and pink with bows?" She hated those dresses. Tonks saw the smirk on her Uncles face. "Oh I am sure you do." Lucius let out a laugh.

"Now that I think about...hmm I think I might have a picture of that somewhere" he smirked. "Perhaps Viktor would like to see it." He started looking around for the picture. He turned toward her. "But you couldn't expect a normal name could you? I mean look at the names in our family. She had to give you a name that would stand out...and it does...but you chose to not use it Tisk." Tonks winced at the thought of the pictures. She pursed her lips and frowned.

"I don't like my name, do you see the people I work with, none of them really are in touch with their, feminine side." She said about her fellow aurors, however Tonks chain of thought was stopped with the appearance of a photo. Damn. She gasped and pouted that such an odious representation of her was still in existence. She glared it was a picture of her sitting in a giant pink flowing dress, with lace and bows. Her hair was blond and had matching bows. "Well at least I look as dreadful as that dress appears. I swear my mother drove me to what I am today."

"She drove you to what you are today? Which is what, a do-gooder? Shame on her. I'm sure she would have rather you been a Death Eater. After all, she was so supportive of her sister's choice" he said. He took the picture from her and looked at it. "You almost look endearing in this picture" he smirked. "Perhaps this is where you infatuation with pink began...you can probably thank your lovely mother for that as well."

"Ha...ha, no I meant me hating dresses and lace" Tonks said snatching the picture and scowling at it. "Please you don't know what my mother would and would not want from me. You think that I am 'endearing' cause my mom tried to make me fit in so you and your family would like me." She said with a pointed glare at the blond hair. "Clearly that didn't even work; I'd die before going blond again."

"You really hate blonds that much? What have we ever done to you?" he asked smirking. "I knew you mother rather well back then. She was in my house after all and the sister of my wife. I'd like to think that I did know some things about her. And your mother didn't give you that name to endear you to the rest of the family. What difference does a name make? She knew you wouldn't be like the rest of the family, just like she wasn't. I think she gave you that name in order to help you feel closer to your family." He shrugged looking over at her.   
"She always felt like the outsider, I just didn't think she wanted you to feel like that as well" he said looking her in the eye.

"Yeah my mom made me a blond, I do hate that," She snapped at Lucius, she eyed his blond hair. "It was a waste of her energy trying to fit in with this family. She spent too much time on worrying about what you and your family thought. I have never understood her need for approval." She said bitterly.

"She never seemed to care what I thought" he said simply. "And she tended to tell me that, quite a lot." He thought for few seconds and looked back over to Tonks. "But really, doesn't everyone really desire to fit in with their family, to have their approval. As much as someone" he said looking intently at Tonks "tries to act like they don't. After all, why would you spend so much time with us?"

"I already told you," Tonks said with a foul look to Lucius. "She wanted me too. Do stop making me repeat myself Uncle Lucius. And don't get the deluded notion that I need your approval, I gave up on that years ago." Tonks tucked the picture in the back pocket of her pants. "She was a shoddy liar, you know that. My mother wasted years of her life on you. I am certainly not doing the same." Tonks rolled her eyes and put on her cloak.

"She never had to try to gain my approval" he said absently. He stood up and walked over to the window looking out it and back towards her concerned. "She said that? She told you that she wasted years of her like on me?" He looked down at the floor suddenly realizing he had said too much. He was speaking out about something he'd never talked to anyone about, not even his wife. He looked back out the window quickly hoping to evade the topic.Tonks was clever she knew exactly where this was going, she rolled her eyes and glared at Lucius.

"My mother has been dead for 17 years," Tonks knew she was going to regret saying this but she couldn't stop the verbal vomit. "No thanks to you. I am not NOT having this conversation with you." She swung her cloak the rest of the way on and made for an escape. He just stood there, letting those words sink in, not knowing what to say for a few seconds. It's not like he hadn't thought those thoughts himself, but it had been a very long time since he'd allowed those thoughts to be heard. And he'd never had someone say those words out loud to him. His heart suddenly hurt and he was furious. He turned to face Tonks with his eyes burning with anger.

"How you dare act like I didn't do anything Nymphadora!" he said nearly yelling. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Her uncle's violent response confirmed exactly what she had thought

"I know well enough what I am talking about. I am not going to stay here while you rail on me, or my mother." She shot him a glare and disaperated.

"Don't you dare!" he said, grabbing her wand out of her hand and pulling it out of her reach. "Obviously, you don't know what you're talking about," he said, glaring at her. "I would never do anything to hurt your mother, no matter what you think."

Tonks stared fiercely, back at him. She had seen him angry before, but this was different. She stared at her wand in his hand. She let out a sigh, she did not want this conversation.

"What do you want from me Uncle Lucius," she said, genuinely trying to appease the already angry man.

"Why are you so adamant about leaving?" he asked, looking at her questionably. "After all, you brought up this topic," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I think you're afraid of what you might find out." Lucius was beginning to think the moment was lost. He had a momentarily lapse of sanity thinking that they would actually be able to talk about this.Tonks took her arm out of her Uncle's grasp reliving memories of his grasp causing pain not so long ago. She leaned back on the desk she looked, up at him slowly.

"I know more than you would expect, contrary to your opinion I am clever, I work in the ministry," She said, to him. "They have files on her, did you know that?" Clearly his face said he didn't. "But our family," she said family, like a swear word, "is so good, at keeping its skeletons locked away I am sure I don't know everything," She looked at Lucius, not wanting to listen to him, but giving him a chance. She crossed her legs and her arms. He wondered for a moment why he would even bother telling her anything. Why should he tell anyone anything? He'd kept all his emotions in all these years, why was now any different? He looked glanced back and forth in the room remaining silent for a few seconds.

"I'm sure you don't know half of what you think you know," he said, sneering at her. He leaned back in his desk chair preparing to recount the story. "I first met you mother when she started at Hogwarts. I was in my 3rd year when she was sorted into Slytherin. She stood out; she was the Black sister who hated her family, and being in Slytherin. I couldn't understand why she would hate the house of her forefathers. She didn't make many friends in Slytherin, especially her first year. I'd never spoken to her before, but she never kept it secret that she despised my family as well. When I started my fourth year I was invited to Slughorn's 'Club thing.' Low and behold, who is asked to join as well, your mother. She had this charisma about her, but it was unique. That was when she first started to give me the time of day. I would walk with her to and from the "meetings" but then we started talking outside them. By the time we finished that year, she was one of the best friends I had. One of the few people who could actually make me smile" he said, smiling at the memory. He looked back over at Tonks to see if she was still paying attention. Tonks turned on the desk to face Lucius, watching him intently with sparkling eyes; this was what she had expected, sadly. She bit her lower lip and knew this was going to take a turn for the hurtful at any moment, but was so longing to hear anything about her mother; she nodded, allowing him to continue, whatever he might say. He looked over at her pausing for a moment.

"She wrote to me frequently over the summer. I never stopped thinking about her. When I started my 5th year she was all I could think about most of the time. I finally got the nerve to tell her how I felt. She thought I was crazy. Said I wasn't her type" he said smirking. "Took me a month to convince her to go out with me. She told me we couldn't tell anyone though. For starters Bella hated me and she didn't want me caught up in her family drama. But she agreed" he said dreamily as he glanced up at Tonks.

"She was the first girl I ever loved" he said absently. "I adored everything about her: her spirit, her attitude, even the way she hated her own heritage. It didn't matter. I still loved her." He sighed and looked over at her again. "We dated until the end of my 5th year. She said she wanted to be able to have a relationship that everyone could know about." He sighed again. "That next year she met your father. He was a Quidditch player" he scoffed. "He was in Hufflepuff, way below her standards. That was the year that Cissa started school as well. I resented Ted, and I know he knew it. After Christmas break she never came back to school. Bella had graduated the year before, so I couldn't ask her and Cissa was too young to understand. Your father continued to strut the halls as if he hadn't a care in the world. I confronted him about where she was. He told me it was none of my business" he said looking down at his desk.

"My father was the one that told me. He'd heard it at work. I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't. I sent letters, she never responded. Finally, I got a letter in her handwriting telling me that she and Ted and gotten married. That she was dropping out of school and she was 7 months pregnant." He swallowed hard and looked back at Tonks.

"I didn't talk to anyone for weeks" he said. "She sent me another letter just after you were born. She told me it was girl and she'd named her Nymphadora."

Tonks felt like she had been hit in the stomach. She knew all of this was true, except the spiteful, father. She refused to let this rile her up. She stood in her properly learnt coolness. She looked at the ground then at Lucius.

"Well thanks Uncle Lucius, I'm not only the person that made my mum drop out of school, but also was born out of spite against you of all people" She spat. "And made my mum miserable for the rest of her short life, DAMNIT Lucius that's not fair," She looked away, then back. "Its not my fault I was born, I am sorry that I screwed up your life as well," She said throwing her hands into the air, "are you done cause I am surely done listening."

"Damnit Nymphadora what is your problem?" he said standing up as well. "Stop being dramatic! As usual, you're trying to make everything about you! No I'm not done" he said looking at her sternly. "I still have your wand, remember? So you're not leaving, not in the middle of my explanation." He looked cross. For most of the time, telling the stories had allowed him to relive happy memories but she was making it harder on him.

"Your mother could have gone back to school if she really wanted to" he said looking at her. "There was nothing stopping her from doing so. She chose not to though. It doesn't mean she didn't make a good life for herself. And you were not born out of spite against me" he said rolling his eyes. "That's a simply ridiculous idea all together. I can't help it that your father didn't like me." He paused for a moment and looked over at her. "Now are you going to let me continue or just leave?"

Tonks wouldn't believe for a second that this wasn't just some ploy to stab at her, and her dysfunctional family. What else was she supposed to think? She hated when he told her she was being dramatic, it was so belittling. She let out a sigh, and erased her easy targeted emotions. A trick she had learnt from spending so much time with this man.   
"It doesn't seem like I have a choice." She said, in a controlled voice. She tried to listen instead of just emote. Lucius rolled his eyes and tried to remember where he was in his story.

"We didn't talk much during my last year of school. I didn't really talk to many people" he said sighing. "I went to work at the Ministry just after getting out of school. This was when The Dark Lord was starting to gather his first followers. He was very persuasive. I didn't take much convincing to get me to sign up. About a year after I joined the Dark Lord, and two years after starting at the ministry your mother started working there as well. We talked for a while, like long lost friends tend to. She told me that you and Ted were doing well. I was glad, she seemed happy."

The idea that her mother loved a man such as Lucius Malfoy was revolting. Tonks rolled her eyes at his last comment. Her mother was skilled at covering up emotions. Tonks inherited that from her mum. 

"Well we both know that wasn't true." Tonks had often wondered if this disguise of the happy family was the reason she was born a metomorphugus so she could change in to the perfect chilled for her mother and father. She let out a sigh and glared, she wanted her wand back.

"So is this the part of the story where you," She looked at him in mock doe eyed and innocence "Uncle Lucius, kill the big bad guy?" She shouldn't have said it, but years of living with Sirius Black and his hatred for Lucius, came bubbling forward. She saw her Uncle Lucius fill with rage and she decided to stop it before she found herself stunned on the floor. "I am sorry" She held up her hands in surrender. "I shouldn't have said it. My father was brute and a git." She frowned at the thought, more for appeasement then interest she said, "I'm sorry go on I am listening." Lucius glared at her not knowing what to say right off. He wondered for a moment if she knew what she was saying a correct.

"Your father was a coward" he said. "Nothing more." He sneered at the thought of Ted Tonks and his blood started to boil. He knew that he would never regret what he had done, but now looking into the eyes of Ted's daughter, he was having second thoughts for the first time ever.

"I didn't think men like your father actually existed. I'd never had the misfortune of meeting one myself before. I might have been considered a bad person, but I would never lay a hand on someone I loved. But your mother seemed to think that he still loved her. She thought her act would fool me. I knew better" he said looking up at her. Perhaps it was best to just not tell her what really happened. "You father's death was unfortunate and untimely" he said simply.Tonks sat on the edge of her Uncles desk, looking at nothing. He was such a brute, such a pest to her. She was so confused.

"But." She stopped and stared at him, hurt, and utterly lost. "But you killed my father." She felt very sad, "He was terrible lousy and no good, but he was still my dad, Uncle Lucius. He was my family!" Tonks said. This was not at all how she had planned on confronting this, she had planned on yelling and fighting not, and nigh on crying. She shook it off, this was ridiculous. She shot him a glare; this was all so not ok. "Sirius told me you killed him, and mum didn't even know, They have a file on it in the office, they have a file on mum too," Tonks felt it coming she couldn't stop it, she wondered if her mother was as annoying feisty as she her self was, or if that was something she picked up from her father. She tried to stop it but it came out again.

"So what Uncle Lucius did you kill mum too!" Tonks was so angry that she was simply having this conversation with him. She wasn't trying to be hurtful and she hoped that came across, but, it was such a dreadful situation, and she didn't know if Lucius had in fact killed her mother, Sirius had always suspected such. She bit her tongue trying desperately not, not, to say anything more.

"Your father ended his life the day I found out he ever laid a hand on you or your mother" Lucius said sneering. Just thinking about Ted made him queasy. He had never met a more revolting person in his life. He glared at her for a second trying to ignore the fact that she was sitting on his desk. He felt a sudden swell of anger that she would even say that.

"I really don't care what you 'ministry files' said about your father" he said. "He was the 'tragic victim of the early part of The Dark Lord's rise to power'" he said snidely. "I think that you will find that the file says nothing more, or nothing less than those words." He sighed trying to keep his anger under control. But her final sentence 'so what uncle Lucius did you kill mum too?' kept running through his head like a broken record. He slammed his fist down on the desk in order to relieve the fury. He glared up at her.

"How could you ever believe I would do anything to hurt your mother?" he said. "As if Sirius Black had any way of knowing such information" he scoffed. "You were still very young, and he knew it was the only way to hold your trust." Tonks looked away. She let out sigh blinking. She looked back at Lucius intently. 

"Don't make me out to be a fool Lucius, I am not one. I am not trying to make my father out to be a hero. I lived with the man," She swallowed and then put her face in her hands; she rubbed her temples looking back at him. "Why in the world would Sirius need to gain my trust; that is ridiculous." Tonks was genuinely confused. She bit her bottom lip, as if that would keep the emotions from boiling over.

"I would never make you out to be a fool Nymphadora" he said glaring at her. "After all, you take after you mother." He inhaled deeply, and exhaled looking out the window and back to her.

"He wanted to gain your trust because he wanted to take custody of you from me" he said avoiding her glance. Tonks closed her eyes, he did not just say that, that made no sense, she was so confused, she stammered. 

"But, wh…" she gave a nervous, laugh. "Rubbish, I don't believe you!" she said with a laugh, but Lucius wasn't laughing, she stopped and was serious. This was ludicrous. "You, you don't even like me, why in the world would you want custody, HOW would you even get custody! pft, I don't believe you." Tonks said, shocked and worried more now than ever, that was unexpected, horribly unexpected. He knew that she would react like this. Perhaps this was the reason he had never said anything to her before. He knew she wouldn't believe him. After all, there wasn't anyway to corroborate his story. He thought for a second, trying to chose his words carefully. Her skepticism really shocked him.

"You were six when your father died" he said simply. "You were very young, I wouldn't expect you to remember much about that time." He looked over at her and saw that she was listening intently.

"You mother took your father's death hard" he said. "I did my best to be there for her, but I couldn't help but think that comforting her was for my own selfish reasons. Maybe I was. I was still in love with her. I knew she felt the same." He tried to think of how to say what he wanted to say, but it just seemed like it would come out awkward. After all, they were talking about her mother.

"Your mother wanted to move in together, but I didn't think it was right" he said looking at her. "I didn't know how you'd feel about it either. After a month, she had me convinced" he said smiling slightly. "I remember. It was just before you turned 7. You were certain that you were grown up now. I gave you a necklace that had belonged to my mother. I don't know if you still kept it." He said pausing, looking at you to see if anything was ringing a bell.Tonks was certain this was all a joke. A very cruel and mean joke. She closed her eyes and put her hand to head and started to talk, but couldn't think of anything. This was so obscure so far removed from reality, and all things solid, and sensible. She looked up and at Lucius, she felt as though she had been smacked.

"What, you're kidding…I..bu, what." It was like someone had taking a chunk out of her brain and then put, a potato in her head and the told her think. She remembered the funeral, and her mom, and things being quiet. "After the funeral, we stayed with you!" Tonks said quietly, she clearly had suppressed all the memories, from that year. They must not have been all bad. But hold up, this was the man that killed her father. Her mother moved in with him. 

"I, that," Tonks said trying to make sense while speaking. "I don't remember anything like that." She put her hand over her mouth and then through her hair. "I just remember hurting, and being" she stared at Lucius in disbelief, "quiet, then alone." He was lying he had to be. He was now going to say 'hahaha Nymphadora you really think I cared for your mudblood loving mother and you abusive father, you lead a deluded life don't you.' But nothing of the sort was said, silence just hung in the air. Tonks wanted to cry this wasn't fair any of it. She gave up. "I just don't understand. What happened?" She said, she knew what happened her mother died, her mother got so sick and died, leaving her alone, alone with her irresponsible, fend for yourself cousin. Tonks shook her head and just stared.

"Do you really think that I would lie about something like this?" he said looking at her completely bewildered. Not only was she saying she didn't believe him, but she was thinking that this was all a joke. He didn't understand. He hadn't ever lied to her before.

"It was about six months after your father died. Yes, the both of you were living with me" he said looking at her. "Your mother got sick, so I told her that he should stay home for a while, until she got better. I was going to get a healer, but she insisted that she would be ok. After a week, she wasn't getting better and I was started to get suspicious. I asked her if anything had happened to her. She told me that something happened at work. Someone had asked her about Sirius's brother, Regulus. She told them to mind their own business. I begged her to tell me that is wasn't true. Her cousin was a traitor and I knew it had to have been a Death Eater that asked her." He bit his lip. It was hard to relive that time in his life.

"I found out that a man named Travers was the one who had asked her. It took me nearly 3 days to track him down. He'd told me what he'd done" he said conveniently leaving out the extensive torturing he'd been put through that led ultimately to the man's death. "When I got back, your mother hadn't gotten any better" he said solemnly. "She was getting worse. And I knew she wasn't going to get any better. But I didn't have the heart to tell her, besides she already knew. There was nothing I could do. I tried everything I could think of" he said trailing off. Obviously she knew what happened next. The raw emotion he was feeling, he hadn't relived since that time in his life. Even though he was being honest, he still with held some information. He looked over at her. It was a mistake to tell her any of this. He stood up and walked to the other side of the room. He'd let his emotions get out of control, and now he couldn't take it back. Why? he kept asking himself. Why would he tell her? After all, it only seemed to make everything more confusing. He cursed his own stupidity. Tonks sat on the old oak desk, and just stared. The frightening thing was this in some very deluded way was making sense. It felt as though it was her turn to speak. She didn't want to say anything. She put her hands in her hair and the rubbed her right arm. Yeah, this made a lot of sense.

"I erm..." She started, not really knowing what to say. "That makes sense." She said with a hallow note in her voice. Oh this was terribly awkward. "Mum had told me when she was dying to stay near my family." Tonks let out a slight laugh at the absurdity. "I never knew that meant you." Tonks hadn't meant to laugh at Lucius, and it looked as he took it that way. "I truly don't remember. I'm sorry." She looked at her hands. She felt like she was constantly apologizing to someone or another, and even more so apologizing to Lucius.

"Your family is more loyal than any friend you could ever make. Your mother was one of the smartest people I've ever known" he said staring at the bookshelf in front of him. He hadn't known what Andy told her before she died. He just knew that she wanted to talk to her before it happened. He turned and looked at her. "Of course it all makes sense Nymphadora. It all makes sense because it's true." He swallowed hard.

"Sirius always assumed that he knew best. He fought so hard to make sure you would never live with me. I knew he didn't want the responsibility. He just didn't want me to have it. And when your mother died, I lost all my claims to the family." He cursed himself hoping that she wouldn't question further. He knew he couldn't tell her. Probably not ever.

Tonks didn't agree with her Uncle's synopsis of family, but then again she came from a family where the father had, been abusive, and her mom had let it happen. Tonks felt horridly sore, and emotionally raw. She sighed and thought.

"Well excuse me Uncle Lucius, for having a shoddy opinion of family, all of mine are either dead or Death Eaters. Family's not good to you when they aren't around." She stood up and walked over to him just a few steps. "You shouldn't have any claims to our family until you married, Cissy nothing short of eight months after Mum died. Claims what claims?" Tonks said thoughtfully, and slightly annoyed. What in the world was this new mystery be? He tried to dodge her eyes but she walked in front of him.

Lucius looked down at the floor but he realized that looking away from her, wasn't going to make her any less curious to what he had meant. He didn't say anything for about 30 seconds and he could tell she was getting impatient.

"I would have had claim into the family had your mother not been robbed of her life" he said. "And the life of my child." Tonks could not help but let out a gasp. Her eyes glistened.   
"What!" Tonks head spun, she put her hand on her lips. "What in the world," Tonks again, reverted back into this has to be a joke. Lucius was going to turn his sneering face to Tonks and say, HAHA just fooling. Tonks thought quickly "If what you're saying is true, before mum was killed, I was living with you, and you and mum were going to have a kid" Tonks was somewhat revolted and felt some what jipped. Before her mother died Tonks was in a house with Lucius, and her mum and she was going to have a sibling. Tonks felt very sad. She bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry" She really couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Why do you keep assuming that this is a joke?" he asked looking at her completely bewildered. "Why in the world would I joke about this?" He walked over to the chair and sat down placing his head in his hands. He looked back over at her. She was still in a state of shock. "I found out just before she started to get sick" he said. "She was so excited. We'd talked about getting married. Just before she died, she told me that she didn't want you to know, not until you were older." He bit his lip and stared at the floor for several seconds.

"You have no reason to be sorry" he said. "You didn't do anything. It was my fault for not protecting her and you." Tonks furrowed her brow worried again. He had just said he was protecting her. She hadn't ever thought of him as a protector. She really hadn't thought of any man as protector. Had her mom lived, had she had the baby. She shook her head and sat down in one of the large leather chairs. She sighed sitting curled with her legs under her. She leaned one arm on her knee and then put her head on her hand.

"But you got married to Cissy, not more than eight months later? Blech I was a flowergirl" She felt violated still by that. Had she not always adored Narcissa, she wouldn't talk to her. She glared at Lucius, "you did a shoddy job of protecting me there too!"

"It's not best to dwell on what could happen" Lucius said looking at her. "But don't assume I just jumped into my marriage. I love Cissa very much." He smirked. "As I remember, you didn't very much like the dress she picked out. It took me forever to convince you to walk down the aisle" he said smiling as he thought about his wedding day. "Had Cissa not been his cousin, I'm sure that Sirius wouldn't have let you be in the wedding party. That was the last time I saw you for several years."

"I tried to write, but Sirius threatened me if I didn't leave you alone. He told me that he would tell you that I killed your mother. I would have rather not talked to you at all then have you think that, but apparently he had other plans. Eventually I just stopped trying." He paused, sighed, and looked over at her. "I'm sorry for putting this all on you" he said looking over at her. Tonks frowned. She was so confused.

"Sirius eluded to that much." She said with a swallow. "I, when I was in my fourth year, I found some of her things." She bit her lip trying not to cry. "I found her journals and a letter to me." She didn't want to go on but she felt like she should. "It said, I was too be a good girl, listen to my family and to" she laughed and wiped her eyes. "And to wear pink every once and while." She let out a sniff and looked into her hands, then back to Lucius. "I didn't know she meant you. She mentioned you a lot in her journals, but they stopped with my dad." Tonks stopped and bit her lower lip. She smiled saying "She was crazy about him...at first. I didn't know we stayed with you." She looked back at Lucius. "I started coming back to family functions, whether Sirius wanted it or not." Tonks looked back at her hands then pushed a strand of pink hair out of her eyes.

"That's the strange things about family" he said. "Most of the time they don't make a whole lot of sense. But sometimes, everything seems to just comes together. Even if it's just for a little while."

"Sirius tended to manipulate the people around him so that they would believe the way he did" he said. "He did so with his friends and even his family." He looked around the room. "Your mother was a smart woman; I knew she wouldn't leave you completely alone. Like I said, you can always rely on your family" he said. "I'm sure that if she would have said to trust me that you would have thought she was mental. Though I'm still not all that sure I'm the best person to invest any trust in. She tended to be a very trusting though. A trait you inherited. You know the first time I saw you at a family function, I knew who you were, even though I hadn't seen you in several years. You looked just like she did at the age, minus the colorful hair of course. You're a lot like her. I'm sorry you didn't get to know her better. Not quite sure where you got your grace from, after all, she was rather graceful." He smirked. Tonks rolled her eyes and sighed.

"It must be a side effect of a metamorphugus, or I got if from my dad. Though I don't ever remember him falling. Sirius always said it was part of growing, however, that doesn't qualify now." Tonks frowned. "Sirius meant well, he was crazy about mum. He's just been," Tonks thought of the right word. "Misguided."

"Well I would hardly consider Sirius to be an expert in any field" he said standing up. He poured a shot of fire whiskey in a glass and drank it. He poured another and sat back down at his desk. "Sirius is hardly misguided. Always thought he knew what was best for everyone when he hardly knew what was best for himself." He shrugged. "Always made me out to be the monster. He was one of Ted's buddies. Andy never told him what Ted had done to the 2 of you. So he assumed I killed him just to get to Andy. I never let him think otherwise, because it wasn't his business. I never thought he'd try to turn you against me as well." He drank his second drink and leaned back in his chair. He knew that this conversation had gone as far as possible. It would only lead to more arguments about family loyalties so he'd just as soon end it now.

"So, are you going to hang around here all day, or have they gotten pretty lax at the ministry lately?" Tonks rolled her eyes, and stood.

"You are the one who told me to come here, to" In a voice surprisingly like his "discourage Draco in this 'tawdry affair." Tonks checked her belt then looked back at you. "And you still have my wand." Tonks let out a smirk holding out her hand. "I haven't been much good to the ministry because my arm is still better." She couldn't help but glare, her arm was still hurting. "Can I have my wand back?"

"Yes well you're the one that's decided to hang around here for so long" he said smirking. He handed his wand back to her. "So they've got you pushing papers?" he asked. "Just doing your part to save the day right?" Tonks sneered, but in a different way.   
"Yes well, that's what I get for having you 'protect me' I will be sure to send your love to Draco" She let out a smirk and tilted her head and disaperated.

A few hours later a small purple agitated owl and a larger black owl landed on Lucius desk knocking over his ink well and scattering his papers. The parchment read:  
:Owl Post:   
Lucius Malfoy,  
For you, I have already read these.  
_Tonks _  
Brown paper was wrapped around several leather bound books, containing the thoughts, of Andromeda Black

Lucius unwrapped the paper and saw the books. He couldn't help but let out a genuine smile for the first time in as long as he could remember.


End file.
